Market Economy
Star systems have a different government, local laws, and market economy. The market economies are dynamic, affected by the trade of other commanders, NPCs and events that occur in the system. Every station has its own supply and demand that change dynamically. Stations with a commodities market allows you to buy and sell commodities from the local market. Both regular player activity, such as trading or piracy, and special missions will affect how the ruling faction of the system develops overtime. Such activities influence the evolution of the galaxy which is handled by the Background Simulation. Anyone can trade with some starting capital. The core is a simple, fundamental truth: buy low and sell high. As a trader you will need to carefully study market economies in the systems you pass through. Changing states and events in systems can affect commodity prices.Elite Dangerous English-PlayersGuide-Latest v2.30 Goods are cheaper when they are common. To make a profit, sell it in systems where it's less common with higher prices. The rarer a commodity the more valuable it'll be. Supply and demand drive prices, and every trade you make in the galaxy affects the markets for every player.https://www.elitedangerous.com/en/gameplay/trading Market Economy Types In the Galaxy Map, the Info Tab displays basic known information about the system, such as the star type, controlling government type, market economies present and population. There are eight market economy types. Systems with different economy types have different supply and demand for commodities. Some systems have a mix of different economies. A higher population usually means higher supply and demand thus you can trade longer without breaking a trade route. Extraction * Imports - Consumer Items, Food, explosives (chemicals), mineral extractors (machinery), H.E. Suits (technology), basic medicines (medicines) * Exports - Minerals group, some Metals group, hydrogen fuels (chemical group) Refinery * Imports - Consumer Items, Food, Minerals, hel-static furnances (machinery), H.E. Suits (technology), scrap (waste) * Exports - Metals, Industrial Materials, hydrogen fuels (chemical) Industrial * Imports - Food, Metals, auto fabricators & robotics (technology) * Exports - Machinery, Consumer Items, food cartridges (food), computer components (technology), scrap (waste) High Tech * Imports - Food, Machinery, Metals, superconductors (industrial materials) * Exports - Technology, consumer tech (consumer items) Agriculture * Imports - Consumer Items, crop harvesters (machinery), agri medicines (medicines), pesticides (chemicals), biowaste (waste) other systems export this, it's cheap & plentiful * Exports - Food, Textiles Terraforming * Imports - high demand for general goods. * Exports - Hydrogen fuel, biowaste Tourism * Imports - high demand for general goods. * Exports - Hydrogen fuel, biowaste Service * Imports - various goods * Exports - a service economy does not produce items for consumption. Military * Imports - Aluminum, H.E. Suits, Polymers, Thorium, Titanium * Exports - Hydrogen Fuel, Scrap, Robotics, Advanced Catalysers, Non-Lethal Weapons Colony * Imports - Cobalt, Rutile, Pyrophyllite, Clothing, Grain, Surface Stabilisers, Water Purifiers, Thermal Cooling Units, Power Generators * Exports - Hydrogen Fuel, Biowaste, Limpet Rescue Only Rescue Vessels have this economy type. * Imports - Liquid Oxygen, Water, Evacuation Shelter, Basic Medicines, H.E. Suits, Natural Fabrics * Exports - A Rescue economy does not produce any items Damaged Only Damaged Stations have this economy type. * Imports - Liquid Oxygen, Water, Evacuation Shelter, Basic Medicines, H.E. Suits, Natural Fabrics * Exports - A Damaged economy does not produce any items Repair Only Repairing Stations have this economy type. * Imports - Auto-Fabricators, Robotics, Polymers, Palladium, Lithium, Rutile, Conductive Fabrics * Exports - Hydrogen Fuel Tips * Take minerals from Extraction to Refinery * Take metals from Refinery to Industrial or to High Tech * Take machinery from Industrial to High Tech or Agriculture * Take technology or consumer items from High Tech to Agriculture * Take food from Agriculture to any other system type * Generally, take biowaste to Agriculture systems, and take scrap to Refinery systems. These are widely available, and cheap, but won't deliver much profit in absolute terms. * Keep notes. At your first system see what's in high demand to be sold into the system, then travel off, and use those notes to decide what to buy and bring back. * Ignore what the Mission Board tells you is 'hot' right now. That doesn't bear much relation to the system's economy type, and covers commodities not yet available (e.g. 'wood' requested that's not available to buy/trade). Basic Economics To understand a market economy it's important to know some basic economics. This is an overview of the basics. Economy An economy is: * the process or system by which goods and services are produced, sold, and bought in a country or region. * careful use of money, resources, etc. * something that makes it possible for you to spend less money."Economy", Merriam-Webster Dictionary, referenced 2014-11-24. Market A Market is a means by which the exchange of goods and services takes place as a result of buyers and sellers being in contact with one another, either directly or through mediating agents or institutions.Encyclopædia Britannica. Market (2011), referenced 2011-09-06. Markets in the most literal and immediate sense are places in which things are bought and sold. In the modern industrial system, however, the market is not a place; it has expanded to include the whole geographical area in which sellers compete with each other for customers. Supply The amount of a good offered for sale at each price is called the supply.Murray N. Rothbard. ,"Chapter 2 - Direct Exchange", Man, Economy, and State, online version, referenced 2009-07-02. Demand The amount of a good demanded for purchase at each price is called the demand. Trade Trade is the voluntary interpersonal exchange of goods. Goods Action is realized by means to achieve certain ends. Means are necessarily always limited, i.e., scarce with regard to the services for which man wants to use them. The means to satisfy man’s wants are called goods.Ludwig von Mises. "Human Action", Ends and Means, online edition, referenced 2009-05-13.Murray N. Rothbard. "Further Implications: The Means", Man, Economy and State, online edition, referenced 2009-05-13. Goods may be classified in either of two categories: (a) they can immediately and directly satisfy human wants, or (b) they may be transformed into directly serviceable goods only at some point in the future - i.e., they can satisfy human wants indirectly. The former are called consumption goods or consumers’ goods or goods of the first order. The latter are called producers’ goods or factors of production or goods of a higher order.Ludwig von Mises. "1. Ends and Means", Chapter IV. A First Analysis of the Category of Action, Human Action, referenced 2009-04-27. Commodity A commodity is a basic good, material, or product that is produced in very large quantities and is usually sold in raw or only partly processed form. The most common commodities are essential agricultural products such as wheat, sugar, rubber, and coffee and basic mineral-derived products like copper, tin, or silver. On a more general level, a commodity may also be any manufactured product — for example, computer chips — that has become so common or inexpensive in design or manufacture that it is almost impossible to tell the difference between two producers' versions of that commodity.Encyclopedia.com. "Commodity.", Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 1999. Referenced 2010-06-22. Capital Capital are the goods that were produced by previous stages of production but do not directly satisfy consumer's needs; they are used in production to eventually produce consumer goods.Murray N. Rothbard. "9. The Formation of Capital", Man, Economy and State, referenced 2009-05-19. Money Money is a commonly used medium of exchange.Ludwig von Mises. "1. Media of Exchange and Money", Chapter XVII. Indirect exchange, Human Action, online edition, referenced 2009-04-27. People wishing to achieve their ends often have to trade. They can exchange their goods directly, if they have matching preferences and suitable goods, or indirectly, with the help of another good, the medium of exchange. Profit Action attempts to exchange a less desirable condition for a more desirable one, and costs are incurred to achieve a goal. The difference between the value of the costs and of the goal is called profit.Ludwig von Mises. "4. Action as an Exchange", Human Action, online edition, Chapter IV. A first analysis of the category of Action, Mises Institute. Referenced 2009-05-14}. Wealth Wealth is a concept generally agreed to be the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions, or the control of such assets. While "wealth" is considered to be an ambiguous and nebulous term, it is a concept that nonetheless has an important place in economics. More specifically wealth can be defined as a claim on, or command of, resources (commodities, capital equipment, time, physical labor, et cetera) that have the potential to make the individual's existence easier, more comfortable or more enjoyable (i.e. "better") than it would be in the absence of such things. Because value is subjective, wealth cannot be measured cardinally, but it is possible to measure ordinally.Rothbard, Murray N. (1997), "Toward a Reconstruction of Utility and Welfare Economics", The Logic of Action 1 In short, wealth can be said to be the ability to have desires fulfilled. References Category:Guides Category:Commerce